A New Beginning
by BloodyBallet
Summary: Dean and Cas bond over something unexpected, and are given a chance at a new life.
1. Chapter 1

Dean woke up to the sound of crying. Not just any crying. A baby was shrieking, screaming, and pitching a complete fit. He groaned and pulled a pillow over his head. _I hate hotels. _The high-pitched yells only increased in volume as he yearned for sleep so he determined the solution: alcohol. Dean believed that alcohol could pretty much fix any problem, especially ones relevant to sleep. He had downed many beers in his time with the goal of erasing his nightmares.

He crawled out of the hotel bed and tiredly walked to the mini fridge packed with beers he had bought with Sam earlier that day. _God, why isn't a parent trying to shut the kid up? It's fucking 2 AM._

A knock on the door distracted him from his beer. He hurriedly ran to the door and found the manager- an overweight man in his 40's.

"Is there a… problem?"

"You didn't mention a kid, asshole." The manager looked at Dean's beer with a disgusted expression.

"Kid? What kid?" Dean asked. His eyebrows burrowed together. He was too tired for this.

"Don't try and pull that. Everyone within a damn mile can hear your kid crying. Do something before I ask you to leave," the manager demanded before leaving. Dean mumbled a few choice words as he fumbled for the door, before walking over to the bed Sam was sleeping in. He chugged his beer, drowning the cries partially.

"How are you possibly sleeping?" he pulled back the thin, beige blanket found in every cheap hotel in America from the bed. His heart dropped immediately. The familiar sight of his ludicrously large brother was absent, and replaced with a naked creature ten times smaller.

"Sammy!" he yelled hoarsely. "I am not in the mood for games!" The tantrum continued and Sam didn't come out from the corner laughing. He set down the beer shakily as he cautiously leaned over the baby, who stopped crying and reached its tiny hands out to the perturbed Dean. He stumbled backwards and pulled a bottle of holy water from the desk drawer between the two beds, where he always kept a weapon of some sort. He dribbled water over the baby, causing no reaction whatsoever.

"Okay… so… you're human. Good. I guess," he said, mostly to himself. The baby was a boy not even a year old. Dean wrapped him up in towels and created a safety barrier around him with pillows, so he wouldn't fall off the bed. Unsure of what to do, Dean lay down on the other bed and fell asleep.

"Dean, wake up."

Dean's eyes fluttered open and met the piercing blue ones of Cas. As usual, Cas was leaning over Dean just a little too closely. Dean's heart sped up rapidly and he felt wide-awake instantly.  
"Oh, hi, hey, Cas. Um, what's up?" he greeted as casually as he could as he pulled himself up and wiped drool from his chin.

"It's come to my attention that your brother has been changed into, er, a much more previous form. I cared for him so you could sleep."  
"Wait- what happened to Sammy?"

"He's been changed into a more previous form," Cas stated patiently in his rough voice.

"Yeah, I heard. I just don't know what the hell you mean."

"Dean, Sam has been turned into a young child."

"You mean," Dean pointed at the baby in the makeshift cradle, "That's Sammy?"

"Yes. I'm sorry," Castiel said as he awkwardly patted Dean's shoulder.

"Who the fuck would do that?"

"I'm not sure what the cause is yet, but I'm working on it. In the meantime, I acquired products that are necessary for childcare." Dean looked around the room and saw for the first time dozens of diaper boxes, sanitary wipes, breast milk, and various things he vaguely recognized from when Sammy was little and from television.

"You did all this?" he asked quietly. Cas looked down at his feet. "When you said you 'cared for Sammy' while I slept- what did you mean?"

"I rocked him and sang him lullabies whenever he became restless," Cas replied. Everything in Dean felt warm at the thought of Cas rocking a baby while singing. He wondered what his singing sounded like.

"Thanks, man," he chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been two weeks. Dean would never admit it, but it had been two of the best weeks of his entire life. Cas never left his side, and Dean didn't have to worry about Sammy's emotional state at all times. All he was concerned about was the state of Sammy's diaper, and Cas always volunteered for the job of replacing dirty diapers with clean ones. Bless that angel. Dean tried to help out by cooking formula, doing laundry, and figuring out how to cook. The apartment they were renting had a nice kitchen so he decided he should learn how to use it. He was actually a pretty good cook once he figured out how ovens work.

"Is there a reason why you don't you do anything with Sam?" Cas asked one night over dinner as Sam slept. Dean had slaved over a lasagna for hours, and the finished product was quite delicious. Cas didn't really need to eat, but he enjoyed the meals with Dean.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"You do so many things, but nothing directly involving your younger brother. You don't rock him, clean him, or sing to him. I haven't seen you touch him at all," Cas noted huskily. His blue eyes gazed at Dean curiously and Dean's stomach knotted up. His mind filled with lies he could say, but he knew Cas would see right through them.  
"It's just freaky, Cas."  
"Stranger things have happened," Cas said shyly. He nibbled a piece of bread and avoided Dean's eyes.

"Stranger than my brother turning into a baby by something that hasn't left a damn trace? That's pretty freaky, man. Demons always leave a clue or something, they _want_ us to find them."

"It must not be a demon then."

"What else could do this?"  
"I have a theory. Dean, I think God did this," Cas proclaimed. Dean dropped his fork on the ground and stared at Cas. Silence filled the apartment. Minutes passed as Dean studied the confidence in Cas's face.

"God left long ago," he said through gritted teeth.

"I have thought this over and over. What if God is giving you both a second chance? You can raise Sam and give him a better life, and you can heal and make a real family."  
"Yeah. A real family. An angel and a high school drop out raising a kid," Dean said bitterly. Cas's eyebrow rose at Dean's words.

"You would like me to continue assisting you?"

"I know the chances of us getting him back to normal are minimal so… I need you. I can't do this on my own," Dean admitted embarrassedly. Cas reached over the table and placed his hand on Dean's, a form of contact that he'd frequently seen humans exchange, but Dean blushed and pulled his hand away. A scream began in the other room, and just as Cas was about to leave and comfort Sam, Dean got up and hurried to Sam's bedroom.

The room was already half finished. Dean had painted the room green and filled it with bookshelves and a crib was in the center of the room. The only strange thing was the demon's trap symbol on the ceiling.

Dean strutted over to the crib and looked at his little brother with sorry eyes. He missed being able to talk to him, but at least now he could stop his tears. He reached down and slowly pulled Sammy out and cradled him in his arms and sang the closest thing to a lullaby he knew (a song he knew Bobby would have appreciated):

Yesterday a child came out to wonder

Caught a dragonfly inside a jar

Fearful when the sky was full of thunder

And tearful at the falling of a star

And the seasons they go round and round

And the painted ponies go up and down

We're captive on the carousel of time

We can't return we can only look

Behind from where we came

And go round and round and round

In the circle game.

Cas stood at the doorway as Dean rocked Sammy back to sleep. The image was perfect and Dean's voice could stop wars.

"Dean," Cas said breathily. Dean turned to him and blushed. He put the sleeping Sammy back in his crib as he walked up to Cas.

"Better?"

Cas smiled admiringly. "Much."


	3. Chapter 3

One Month Later

"Wanna go to the store?" Cas leaned over the couch and looked at Dean, who was watching a new soap opera.

"Hell yeah! I found a few new recipes that I think you'll really like," Dean grinned excitedly. "I can get the ingredients and make one tonight."  
"I'm looking forward to it. I'll just go put Sam in his stroller and we can go."

"I'll help."

After they eased Sam into his stroller and walked the few blocks to the grocery store, Dean whipped out his list with ingredients and then he and Cas searched the busy store for everything needed. Many people stared at the two, for reasons Dean tried to ignore and reasons Cas was unaware of. One man in his late 30's angrily stomped up to them after they were there for 30 minutes.

"Have some decency!" he shouted. Passerby's stared apprehensively.

"Excuse me?" Cas said in a low tone. The man looked Cas up and down, taking in his long, freshly cleaned trench coat and his nostrils flared.

"Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm referring to! Blasphemy!" his voice was shrill and gave Dean chills.

"I don't unde-"

"Cas, let me handle this," Dean sauntered up to the man who looked away from him in horror. "Who do you think you are? You don't know anything about us. LOOK AT ME." The man turned his face back to him; his lips were curled in disgust. "This guy," Dean put his arm around Cas's waist, "Is actually a huge Jesus freak. And by that, I mean he actually does what the Bible said and isn't an asshole. He prays and all that crap and doesn't judge random people at the grocery store. I think you should reread the goddamn Bible when you get home, okay?"

With that, Dean, Cas, and Sam continued shopping. No one else bothered them- on that trip, anyway. Cas was silent until they got home.

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Lead that man into believing we're romantically involved."  
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Dean smirked.

"Yes you do. You… you know."  
"What?"

"Put your arm around me."  
"So?" Dean wrapped his arm around Cas again and smiled bashfully. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. You've just never done that," Cas looked into Dean's bright, green eyes quizzically. "I'm conflicted by the meaning." Dean dropped his arm from Cas, suddenly feeling uncertain with himself. He wasn't sure what was going on. It must have just been the close living quarters. That was all. Cas was just helping him raise Sam, that doesn't mean anything.

_Of course it means something._ _You know you haven't been this happy in years. It's him. It's his smile and his touch and how much he loves Sam. You want this._

Dean leaned forward and kissed Cas tentatively. "Does that clear it up?"

Saying Cas was ravenous would have been an understatement. He threw Dean into Dean's bedroom (Cas didn't have one, he still preferred watching over Sam and Dean when they slept), and ripped off his clothing much faster than Dean would've expected from an angel of the Lord.

"C-Cas? That's you, right?" Dean asked as Cas lifted his naked body onto the bed.

"I apologize if I'm being forward," Cas whispered roughly into his ear, "I've just been waiting for this for quite some time." Dean laughed joyously.

"Yeah, me too," he said before kissing Cas.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What if it's a god? Not **THE** God, but just **A** god? Like, Athena or something," Dean pushed.

"I'm positive it isn't, Dean. There have been no signs and the angels haven't said anything about it."

"The angels don't know everything." Cas shot Dean a condescending look. "Okay, okay, fine. Let's not argue. I made spaghetti."

Cas grinned and ran to the kitchen. Dean was amused to discover that Cas's favorite food, by far, was spaghetti. Castiel was utterly puzzled at how to eat the pasta without making a giant mess, and had not yet succeeded. The challenge pleased and amused Cas so much that even hearing about pasta sent him into a fit of excited giggles. So Dean made spaghetti frequently, especially when he was hoping to get laid. Which was every night, obviously.

"I simply don't comprehend this substance," Cas shook his head sadly after dinner. The spaghetti, as usual, was littered all over his shirt (thankfully, his trench coat was on their coat rack and had been saved), and his face was smeared with tomato sauce.

"Aw, babe," Dean chuckled. He leaned forward and licked the sauce off teasingly, sending chills through his angel.

"I should probably wash this shirt before it stains," Cas whispered roughly.

"I agree." A shrill cry was heard from the other room. Cas and Dean inwardly groaned as they rushed to Sam's room to comfort him. "He's such a cockblock."

"Cockblock?" Cas cocked his head to the side.

"It's, uh… nevermind. Get a fresh diaper, for me, will ya?"

After they fixed Sam up and sang him a lullaby together, they tiredly crawled into bed. Dirty diapers had thwarted Dean's initial plans for the evening, and all he wanted was to sleep so he threw himself on the bed and was followed by Cas, who sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Dean determinedly.

"Sweetie," Cas said in his familiar, monotonous, rough tone.

"What." Dean groaned tiredly.

"I'm concerned for Sam." This caught Dean's attention. His eyelids quickly opened, revealing his striking green eyes.

"Why?"

"I've been thinking this over thoroughly. Don't you think it'll be… difficult for him?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Being raised by us will be difficult for him. How will he explain our relationship? How will we?" Cas tried to explain.

"Cas," Dean's eyebrows burrowed together as his voice hardened, "He doesn't have to _explain _anything. We're just two guys raising a kid."

"Is that all?" his voice was quiet as he searched Dean's expressions.

"No, but… There isn't a goddamn reason people need to know the details of our relationship."

"What about the government?"

"What the fuck does the government have to do with us?"

"When Sam goes to school, papers will be required and someday you and I will require jobs. That typically involves the government," Cas clarified tentatively. Dean was well aware that they couldn't avoid the government for the rest of their lives, especially since he and Cas had already decided to not raise Sam as a hunter. Being a hunter was kind of like not existing, government-wise at least, but they didn't want to screw him up like John did. Dean just didn't get why he had to elucidate to a bunch of people he didn't know about the aspects of a relationship that he didn't fully understand.

"I don't know how to explain this," he confessed, avoiding Cas's eyes. "What we are, I mean."

"Neither do I, which is something we need to resolve for everyone's sake. Let's sleep on it and discuss it tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." Dean pulled Cas on the bed and snuggled his face into his chest. "Tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dean woke up to the smell of bacon. He rushed out of bed and saw the most beautiful sight he had ever seen: Cas had on apron with flowers on it and had made dozens of bacon slices.

"Cas, I thought about it," Cas looked up nervously, "And I think we should get married."

"Because of the bacon."

"Because I love you… And the bacon."


End file.
